Preventing Distal Catheter Obstruction in Laparoscopic Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Placement in Adults: The "Falciform Technique".

Background: Distal obstruction of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts is a major problem in the treatment of hydrocephalus. To avoid this complication, we describe a simple method using the falciform ligament to place and hold the distal catheter in the right subdiaphragmatic space, preventing catheter migration and distal obstruction.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively collected data of all VP shunt insertion and revision for adults with idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus between November 2011 and September 2013.

Gold fiducials are a unique marker for localization in the thoracic spine: a cost comparison with percutaneous vertebroplasty.

We present a unique application of the gold fiducial as a preoperative, radiographic marker placed in the thoracic spine and used for intraoperative localization. In comparison to percutaneous vertebroplasty marking of thoracic spinal levels with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cement, implantation of the gold fiducial is technically facile with a minimal learning curve. The fiducial markers are also associated with significantly less financial resources.

Predictors of outcome in civilian gunshot wounds to the head.

Object: Civilian gunshot wounds to the head (GSWH) are often deadly, but some patients with open cranial wounds need medical and surgical management and are potentially good candidates for acceptable functional recovery. The authors analyzed predictors of favorable clinical outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale scores of 4 and 5) after GSWH over a 24-month period.

Methods: The authors posited 2 questions: First, what percentage of civilians with GSWH died in the state of Maryland in a given period of time? Second, what were the predictors of favorable outcome after GSWH? The authors examined demographic, clinical, imaging, and acute care data for 786 civilians who sustained GSWH.

Delivery of stereotactic radiosurgery: a cross-platform comparison.

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a modern addition to the armamentarium of treatment options for intracranial and extracranial lesions. It is increasingly being used as an adjuvant to surgery, conventional radiation therapy, and chemotherapy as well as being used as primary treatment. Since the introduction of the Gamma Knife (Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden) system, many more stereotactic radiosurgery machines have become available.

Low-dose recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator enhances clot resolution in brain hemorrhage: the intraventricular hemorrhage thrombolysis trial.

Background And Purpose: Patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and intraventricular hemorrhage have a reported mortality of 50% to 80%. We evaluated a clot lytic treatment strategy for these patients in terms of mortality, ventricular infection, and bleeding safety events, and for its effect on the rate of intraventricular clot lysis.

Methods: Forty-eight patients were enrolled at 14 centers and randomized to treatment with 3 mg recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rtPA) or placebo.

Frequency of sustained intracranial pressure elevation during treatment of severe intraventricular hemorrhage.

Background: Elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) is an important marker of neurological deterioration. The occurrence and significance of elevated ICP and low cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in aggressively treated spontaneous intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are not defined.

Methods: We performed a secondary longitudinal exploratory data analysis of a randomized multicenter trial of urokinase (UK) versus placebo (Pcb) as a treatment for IVH.

Frameless stereotaxy-assisted clipping of distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysm: technical note and case series.

Objective: Microsurgery for the clipping of cerebral aneurysms requires a working knowledge of the anatomy of the cerebral vasculature and its relationship to landmarks on the surface of the brain and along the skull base. However, for more distally located aneurysms of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), locating the lesion can prove frustrating and may require much more extensive interhemispheric dissection than is otherwise needed for proximal control, exposure of the aneurysm, and clip application. We report a case series of five patients in which frameless stereotaxy and CT angiographic data sets were used to minimize the extent of surgery required to clip distal ACA aneurysms.

The management of neuropathic pain.

Although the definitive treatment for neuropathic pain remains elusive, scientific investigation continues to provide the field with better and better therapies. As our understanding of the neurophysiologic mechanisms of pain improves, pharmaceutic therapies have become more effective even as side effects are minimized. Surgical therapies have become more precise and less invasive.

Intraventricular thrombolysis speeds blood clot resolution: results of a pilot, prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Objective: Animal models and clinical studies suggest that intraventricular thrombolysis improves clot resolution and clinical outcomes among patients with intraventricular hemorrhage. However, this intervention may increase the rates of rebleeding and infection. To assess the safety and efficacy of intraventricular thrombolysis, we conducted a pilot, randomized, double-blind, controlled, multicenter study.